Grassroots movements are so powerful because they reflect the will of the people. There's no filter, and no ulterior motive: just a natural, independent effort to force change.

In the last few years, politicians and businessmen have recognized this, and have tried to harness that power by any means — even if it's fabricated.

"Astroturfing," first coined by U.S. Senator Lloyd Bentsen of Texas in 1985, is when companies or even individuals mask their motives by putting it under the guise of a grassroots movement.

Whether by using misinformation or literally paying people to buy their hamburgers, astroturfing is used to generate publicity and sway public opinion, all while the people orchestrating the movement act like they had nothing to do with it.

The release of Al Gore's documentary "An Inconvenient Truth" in 2006 was followed by outpourings of either support or criticism, depending on which side of the global warming theory one chose to take. One man apparently felt so strongly that Gore's view was wrong -- but more importantly, boring -- that he created a video on YouTube called "Al Gore's Penguin Army," spoofing the ideas set forth by the film and portraying Gore as some sort of Batman villain.

But was this, in fact, the work of a 29-year-old from Beverly Hills, as his profile states? The Wall Street Journal discovered that the video -- which was the first sponsored clip on Google the same day as the movie's release -- could be traced back to DCI Group, a public relations and lobbying firm employed by Exxon Mobil.

When asked about the video at the time, an Exxon spokesman said, "We, like everyone else on the planet, have seen it, but did not fund it, did not approve it, and did not know what its source was." As of today, the video has just over 623,000 views.

Lobbyist firm Bonner & Associates was caught pretending to be the NAACP in an effort to derail the American Clean Energy and Security Act

The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 was meant to curb greenhouse gas emissions, which apparently didn't sit too well with opponents of climate change. Rep. Tom Perriello (D-VA) received letters from both the NAACP and the Hispanic non-profit Creciendo Juntos, asking him to vote against the bill for economic reasons.

It turned out that the lobbyist firm Bonner & Associates, which has a history of astroturfing and defrauding the government, had fabricated the letters, from the letterhead to the signatures. The very similar looking letters can still be found online.

The NAACP released a statement denouncing the stunt as "exploiting the African-American Community to achieve their misdirected goal... to deceive Congress." B&A, on the other hand, blamed the forgery on a "temporary employee."

Stop Too Big To Fail was a misleading campaign meant to kill financial reform -- and headed up by a known astroturfing firm

Stop Too Big To Fail billed itself as a "movement" when it first came out against bank bailouts in 2010. In fact, it was much more: a $1.6 million ad campaign, a series of blog posts, television spots -- complete with out-of-context quotes -- constructed to help kill financial reform.

The well-known astroturfing group Consumers for Competitive Choice was behind the ads, which basically repeated Republican rhetoric and used tactics such as quoting a supporter of the bank bailouts -- former Labor Secretary Robert Reich -- simply detailing the opposition's position and using it as proof that Reich was actually behind Stop Too Big To Fail. Much of the "movement" was filled with misleading language.

The Alliance of Australian Retailers was against repackaging cigarettes with health warnings -- which makes sense, considering they were created by Philip Morris

The 2010 Australian Federal Election featured a controversial piece of proposed legislation. Australia was looking to become the first country with "plain cigarette packaging": logos, brands and ads would be replaced by health warnings, pictures, and the brand name in plain, white type on the pack.

In response, the Alliance of Australian Retailers was formed to fight on behalf of small businesses who could be hurt by the law. The group of 19,000 members representing corner stores, petrol stations, and newsagents had millions of dollars in support -- because Big Tobacco companies like Philip Morris International, British American Tobacco and Imperial Tobacco were financing the AAR.

When the Big Tobacco companies were revealed as backers of the AAR, retailers quit the campaign, forcing Philip Morris to hire a public relations company to handle the fight.

The communications team for Toronto Mayor Rob Ford created a fake Twitter account to support his policies

@QueensQuayKaren was like any other Twitter user. She posted her views on Toronto politics and proved surprisingly open-minded about Rob Ford, the candidate opposing her choice for mayor, George Smitherman. In the later days of the campaign, Karen Philby seemed increasingly swayed by Ford's policies. By the end, Karen was convinced of Ford's superiority over her original choice.

McDonald's paid people to get in line for a Quarter Pounder burger in Japan

The release of the Quarter Pounder in Japan was a pretty big deal, judging by the size of the crowds. In fact, it was a record-setting day for the McDonald's in Osaka.

As it turns out, McDonalds had recruited 1,000 part-time employees to line up -- starting at midnight before the store even opened -- and generate buzz for the burger. The "customers" were paid for their time and had their meal compensated. McDonalds admitted to the ploy, but said it was part of a "customer feedback" for "market research."

Comcast paid people to attend an FCC hearing to either applaud, sleep, or keep Comcast critics out

AP Images

An FCC hearing in 2008 looking into Comcast's neutrality was uncharacteristically filled to the brim. The FCC was examining claims by several companies -- such as Free Press, Public Knowledge, and Vuze -- that Comcast was blocking the delivery of other video-on-demand services in order to crush their competition.

The reason that there were so many people at the hearing -- particularly people applauding during a speech by the Comcast VP, or sleeping during other testimonies -- is that Comcast hired people off the street to fill the seats. The effect was two-fold: Comcast got support from the applause, and they kept out Comcast critics and members of the opposition out of the room.

A member of Free Press arrived at the hearing 90 minutes early and found the room was already 75 percent full.

Ask.com tried to start an information revolution against Google on the London Underground

Turns out, it was Ask.com, looking to take a chunk out of Google's share of internet searches. The Ask search engine had enlisted digital marketing agency Profero to engineer the website and ads, complete with anarchist color schemes and a puppet on a string to symbolize how searching on Google was just making us cogs in the machine, or something like that.

Working Families For Walmart turns out to be pro-Walmart because they are, in fact, Walmart

Flickr

The blog Working Families For Walmart looks like a grassroots attempt at supporting the corporation that does so much for American families. There was another blog, Paid Critics, that drew connections between Walmart haters and unions.

But when people called for greater transparency by the sites, it was revealed that the posts were being written by employees of the Edelman public relations firm, of which Walmart is a client. The sites are paid for by Walmart and have since sparked the rise of several Walmart critics, such as Wake Up Walmart and Walmart Watch.

The government contracted HBGary Federal to create fake "friends" to smear those who disagreed with government positions

HBGary Federal, a technology security company, does a lot of work for the federal government, including fighting the hacker group Anonymous. But the federal government recently contracted them to conduct something much more nefarious.

Anonymous was able to reveal HBGary's "persona management" software, which the government requested this past year. The software has the ability to create numerous "fake" social media profiles, for use in either foreign countries and in the U.S. as well. These profiles can help create simulated widespread support for government positions and to sway the public by promoting propoganda.